Built of sterling silver, 14 karat gold, one freshwater pearl, one week of brooding and two days in the studio.
For the Love of Summer Light
June 8, 2010 by
There ain’t no light like summer light.
And wowweee! Look at those poppies!
All in a Good Sunday
June 7, 2010 by
My dear friend Karen woke me up this morning.
Actually, I had been laying in bed, dozing on and off, for a couple of hours; cast in and out of sleep by birdsong and dappled sunlight. Karen knocked on the front door and told me to come to her house for coffee and cake. I agreed and then promptly gave her a garden tour whilst in my nightgown.
She has a lovely front veranda for sitting and sipping. The coffee went down slow and easy and we made breakfast out of blueberry cheesecake while our dogs romped about in her backyard. We discussed the weather, our perennials, our men and our dogs, among other things.
I spent the afternoon toiling in my yard. It was sunny! I cut flowers for vases. I reacquainted myself with the lawnmower and whippersnipper. I weeded, irrigated, watered, weeded again, moved the chicken ark, planted seeds and sniffed every single iris blossom I could find. I stretched out in the grass with Penelope and Mister Pinkerton and took the time to feel the sun on my back.
After baking a loaf of banana bread, while waiting out a blustery storm, I walked the dogs through my side of town. I picked more lilacs. I watched the sky.
And when I returned home, I finished unpacking my bags and boxes from my recent whirlwind trip. I dusted a bookshelf or two, arranged my pretty things on shelves and sat down to write this:
Journal Entry: June 6, 2010
The good news is there is no such thing as failure in art. That is, there is no such thing as failure when I sit down to create as long as my work is truly an outpouring of what is inside me. The goal is self expression. The goal is the interpretation and translation of my personality, my emotions and the world around me. Of course. Of course I want the outcome to be aesthetically lovely but not all parts of me ARE lovely. I am fallible. I am human. There is darkness here. Some of my attempts will fall flat or be classified as ugly and there’s a truth to be found even in those attempts. So why do I fear them?
Why do I fear the truth of them?
Why do I fear the darkness when there is so much sureness in the light and when I give voice to those voids, those terrors, those fears, are not they flooded with grace and understanding and light? To even attempt to convey them in metal and stone is to take them out of their hiding places and turn them slowly in my hands, in the pureness of light.
The thing is, it’s ok.
It’s ok to fail, if failure means I make something that represents ugliness and brokenness. Those are real things and if they pour out of me in a moment of despair, giving structure to THAT moment and those emotions is a very real thing. The beauty in this creation is the illumination of fear. The dissolution of fear.
The courage it takes when facing my demons, calling those demons out by name, and watching them dismantle under the power of grace and truth.
There is only rejoicing here:
The thick and thin of exploration, self awareness, inspiration.
The process.
Those two loves I must give: for my neighbor, for my God.
The dissection of everything in between.
And the growth that comes with all of these things.
Always reaching.
I’ve been so comfortable these past few months.
It’s time to push harder, to carve deeper, to break barriers and include
past fragments in new forms, structures and concepts. I’m up for the task, even if I’m down for the count.
_________________________________________________________
I’ve been so afraid, this week past.
Afraid to begin again.
Afraid of my studio space.
Afraid of my ideas.
But I’m not frightened anymore.
Even the darkness can amount to light.
If you’ve been afraid, call it by name, bring it forth, understand it and fling it into the light where it can be no more.
I hope you had beautiful weekends.
Thank you for your sweet congratulations for my darling smokejumper!
See you tomorrow.
xx
The Noisy Plume
June 6, 2010 by
Dear Everyone,
I am officially the wife of a smokejumper.
And I love him. Dreadfully.
Please God, keep his chute out of trees.
xx
Jillian
/
Amen
The First Fruits
June 4, 2010 by
The Love Cuff.
Featuring a slice of green chrysoprase set in rusticated sterling silver and sealed with my maker’s mark. It slides freely along a handcrafted leather cuff that has been antiqued a fair weather blue and embossed with the word LOVE.
Built for a 6 inch wrist.
The Hope Cuff.
This leather cuff bears the word HOPE and hosts another slice of chrysoprase set in rusticated sterling silver. My maker’s mark is tethered to it. It’s meant for a six inch wrist.
Both pieces are one of a kind and manage to represent,
so well,
this moment in my life.
May they go to the ladies who need them most!
xx
:::EDIT:::
Wowwee.
Thanks so much for your support today,
wonderful women of the world.
You maybe know how this feels, but whenever I take a holiday and disappear for nearly an entire month, there’s always this little unfounded fear that you’ll have disappeared from my life and my world by the time I get back. It’s always so good to see your bright and shining faces again. Thanks for loving the leather. It loves you back.
xx